During the first few years of life, human infants typically wear diapers to retain or absorb solid and liquid waste. Once a caregiver notices that a diaper has become soiled, the soiled diaper is removed, the infant's bottom and crotch region is cleaned, and a new, unsoiled, diaper is placed onto the infant. (In this specification, the term “infant's bottom” is used for convenience to describe the buttock area, crotch, and surrounding regions of a baby; areas which may be covered by a diaper). To clean the infant, caregivers often use disposable, pre-moistened towelettes. The soiled skin area is wiped with the towelette to remove waste residue prior to placing the new diaper on the infant.
Infants often suffer from skin irritation, commonly known as diaper rash, on the infant's bottom attributable in part to the moist environment. In order to minimize diaper rash, it is desirable to dry the infant's bottom prior to placing a clean diaper on the infant. Using a dry towel to remove moisture from the infant may irritate sensitive skin. It is preferable to air dry the skin. However, it is often impossible to allow enough time for the infant's bottom to dry completely if the process depends on natural, unassisted, evaporation. Infants are often unwilling to lie still during the diaper change process, and extending the time required to allow for natural evaporation may be difficult if the infant continually tries to move. Also, the caregiver may only have limited time during which to complete the diaper change process so that they can return their attention to other children or other tasks. In light of the above, there is a need for an apparatus to assist in the drying of an infant's bottom during the diaper change process. It is preferred that such a device air-dry the region more quickly than would be possible through natural, unassisted, evaporation. However, it is obviously also important that such a device be designed such that it is easy to use and does not risk injury to the infant.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,620, Chimera describes a hand-held body drier with selective attachments. However, this patent does not describe the use of resilient end surfaces adapted for contact with the body to minimize abrasion of sensitive skin. Also, the attachments described do not have means for relieving pressure if the air outlet is blocked. In one embodiment described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,620, an attachment having a brush is described. However, a brush is difficult to clean, and may abrade the skin.